Wednesday, October 10, 2012

work til you drop

How often have we heard the politicians and their lap-dogs in the media decry members of the working class as lazy and shirkers. Osbourne was at it at again the Tory conference.

According to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the average level of absence per employee dropped from 7.7 to 6.8 days this year because  millions of British workers are too scared of losing their jobs to take time off work even if they are very ill. However, the fall in absence levels coincides with almost a third of employers reporting an increase in the number of people going into work ill. Research adviser at the CIPD Dr Jill Miller said: “We are seeing employees struggling into work to demonstrate their commitment.”
Decreases in absence levels was most stark in public sector services, falling to their lowest level in ten years.

Stress-related absence also appears to be on the increase, with two-fifths of employers (40%) reporting a rise over the past year and only one in ten (10%) reporting that the problem had decreased. Stress continues to feature as the most common cause of long-term absence, for the second year running. The level of reported mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, among employees is also on the increase. More than twice the number of employers reported an increase in mental health problems in 2012 than did in 2009. "Continuing economic uncertainty and fears over job security appear to be taking their toll on employees." said Dr Miller

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